Fill ‘Er Up

February 21, 2012

Hello!

The other day, I received the following question from a reader:

How filled up does your Oats In a Jar get? I made it a while ago, but my oats barely made it 1/3 of the way up to jar. I found it so inconvenient that I ended up just pouring it back into a bowl. Sad day.

That is a sad day! Oats In a Jar are one of my favorite breakfasts, so I’ll let you guys in on my secret recipe for Super Fluffy Oats In a Jar. (It’s actually not a secret at all. I just made it up this morning.)

@Leah: I usually do 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup yogurt, tsp chia seeds, 1/2 scoop protein powder, 1/2 banana sliced, and cinnamon. I think the key is the banana, if you slice it thickly it will take up more room and it still tastes the same!

Hah! That wrinkly dog site is fabulous… I love the post with Hugh Laurie and his Pug that says “Hugh Laurie has a pug. that means every person should have a pug. ” Too cute (Plus, I have a thing for Hugh Laurie )

I would really like to lose weight but the thought of dieting is awful to me. I am always hungry and miserable. When you were losing weight were you hungry a lot? Do you feel that part of dieting is just dealing with hunger and denying yourself?

@Lisa: I got hungry at times, but I’ve always been an eater, so I eat when I’m hungry. Plus, when I was losing weight, it wasn’t a “diet” for me. I was making long-term, permanent lifestyle changes, so being hungry and denying myself just wasn’t going to work for me!

Jessica’s idea about volumetrics is a good one. I like to load up with salads and lots of low-cal veggies and fruit. Additionally, check out the make-up of your meals and snacks. Is there protein, healthy fats, and fiberous carbs? A combination of nutrients really helps to satisfy me. Also, check out this post I wrote just last week for Health.com about planning healthy, satisfying meals: http://weightloss.health.com/2012/02/14/plan-healthy-meals/

ahhh thank you for telling me the trick because I also rarely ever made oats in a jar because mine always looked so pathetic!!! i dont have any flax so I am hoping the Chia can work the same but my gosh, i always wanted to make these because they are convienient for on the go, but the small serving just totally turned me off! so thanks

I actually JUST made oats in my PB jar this morning and thought about this exact situation.

I make instant oats alot (because it’s quicker and I can do it at work) and I don’t like my oats super runny, so I had gotten in the habit of not putting a lot of water/milk in them. Less water meant my oats were not runny, but not volumous either. Unforunately I had forggotten that once out of the microwave for about 30 seconds, oats start to stiffen even more. Add that to the fact that the nut butter also makes them thicken up and my oats got way TOO thick.

Today I put about twice as much water/milk as I normally do and watched them carefully in the microwave. Once they got just past the “runny” consistensity, I poured them into my nut butter jar and stirred. Once the nut butter was incorporated and the oats were able to sit for about 30 seconds, I had TWICE as many oats and a perfect consistensy!

Tina, have you changed your posting schedule in the past couple of months? I feel like I used to come to your blog in the morning and there was new content, but now when I come it’s the same post from the previous day with the new post going up later in the day. Which is fine! I’m not complaining! I love reading your blog any time of day!!! I’m just curious if I missed something along the way.
By the way, in these last pictures I noticed how big Murphy is! Is he big for a pug? I am in the process of getting a dog and was thinking about a pug. However, I live in an apartment and am thinking a pug might be too big for my smaller space. Either way, love that pug face!

I eat oatmeal every morning but it never filled me up until I started using 1/4 cup oat bran with 1/4 cup oats with 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup almond/coconut milk. The oat bran makes the oatmeal very thick and creamy. I always add an apple that I cut up and cook with lots of cinnamon and of course 1 Tbs. of peanut butter. I buy bulk organic oat bran that’s only 60 calories per 1/4 cup and along with the other ingredients I can have an extremely filling breakfast for a modest amount of calories. I sympathize with the above reader who is just starting trying to lose weight. I have a huge appetite but by counting calories I have lost 34 pds since April 2011. I use myfitnesspal.com and exercise 6 days a week. I also find that eating almost the same thing everyday really helps me so I too eat a huge salad almost everyday for lunch. That way I can splurge a little on weekends, b/c I too am addicted to sugar, I love cakes, brownies and desserts so much that I think I will always have a heard time fighting those temptations but keeping them out of the house is one way I keep on track. I too use greek yogurt and fruit as my “dessert” daily.

your healthy eating has inspired me! I have two kids, a four year old little girl who is 4, after I had her at age 21, my body bounced back immediately! I also just had a little boy who was born 4.5 months ago who weighed in at nearly 9lbs! My body is not bouncing back so quickly. Some say I’m lucky as I do not have one single stretch mark but I’m hovering around 135lbs when I’m used to being 120lbs. I’ve recently started a blog about the funny things that happen to me everyday because of my kids, I would love for you to leave some tips for healthy eating on my blog! twonamestwokids.wordpress.com

That salad looks delicious! I got two bottles of truffle oil in my stocking this year, and I’ve been trying to find the right vehicle for it. The quinoa would be a nice base, and the arugula gives it great color.

Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an incredibly long comment but after
I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again.
Anyways, just wanted to say wonderful blog!